





vs 


OUTLINES 


OF 




i^mepican 


t 

Literatupe. 


PREPARED FOR THE USE OF PUPILS IN H<GH 
AND NORMAL SCHOOLS. 


PART I— ENGLISH LITERATURE. 
PART IL— AMERICAN LITERATURE. 



l/^ ! p 

By HORTENSE M. MERRILL, 

M 


^ 3HT 


Teacher of LiteraUtre in the Farmington State Normal School.^FO' "' 



• • - 


FARMINGTON, MAINE; 

D. H. KNOWLTON & CO., PUBLISHERS. 

1SS9. 




9 


Copyright^ i88g. 


/ 



INTRODUCTORY. 


77 


The following sketch was prepared to meet the need felt 
in my own work for a topical outline to be used as an aid in 
consulting reference books, to lighten the work of the teacher 
in arranging and preparing topics and notes from day to 
day, and to save the time and labor of the pupils in copy- 
ing such work from the board. And though intended mainly 
for my own classes, it is hoped it may be useful to others 
who have felt a similar need. 

The course thus indicated is designed to include a study 
of the best-known English and American authors, their 
writings and their times. The authors are grouped accord- 
ing to periods, in connection with which attention may be 
called to the leading political and social features, especially 
such as have had a bearing upon literature. 

For a study of the writings the inexpensive editions of 
classics published with notes for school use are invaluable. 

The small figures refer to corresponding numbers of refer- 
ence books, a list of which is given on page ii. 

The blank pages at the end of the book are intended for 
additional notes and topics by the pupil. 


Farmington, Me., Jan. i6, 1889. 


H. M. M. 




CONTENTS. 

PART I. ENGLISH LITERATURE. 

Page. 

Books for Reference, . . . . . . . . ii 

Periods of English Literature, . . . . . . . 13 

Table of Aryan Languages, . . . . . . . 15 

Historical Sketch, . . ....... 17 

Origin of the English Language, . . . . . . 19 

Anglo-Saxon Period, ........ 24 

Norman-French and Early English Period, .... 26 

Era of Printing, ......... 29 

Elizabethan Period, ......... 32 

Puritan Era, .......... 35 

Era of the Restoration, . . . . . . . . 37 

Seventh Period : First Part, .... . . 41 

Seventh Period : Second Part, ....... 44 

Eighth Period, .......... 47 

Poets Laureate of England, . . . . . . . 51 

PART II. AMERICAN LITERATURE. 

Colonial Period, . . . . . . . . . 55 

Revolutionary Period, . . • . . . . . 58 

Nineteenth Century, . . . . . . . . . 61 

English Classics for School Use, ...... 67 

Authors’ Birthdays, ......... 69 

Blank Pages following Text for Notes and Topics. 



PART I. 


ENGLISH LITERATURE. 


BOOKS FOR REFERENCE. 


1. Encyclopaedia Britannica ; Chambers’ Encyclopedia ; 

Johnson’s Encyclopedia. 

2. Allibone’s Dictionary of Authors. 

3. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Authors. 

4. Chambers’ Cyclopedia of English Literature. 

5. Shaw’s Outlines of English Literature. 

6. Collier’s History of English Literature. 

7. Welsh’s Development of English Literature and Lan- 

guage. 

8. Kellogg’s English Literature. 

9. Brooke’s English Literature. 

10. Raub’s Studies in English and i\merican Literature. 

11. Trimble’s Handbook of Literature. 

12. Taine’s History of English Literature. 

13. Sismondi’s Literature of Southern Europe. 

14. Schlegel’s History of Literature. 

15. Botta’s Handbook of Universal Literature. 

16. Meiklejohn’s English Language. 

17. Introduction to Webster’s and Worcester’s Diction- 

aries. 

18. Webster’s and Worcester’s Dictionaries. 

19. Green’s Short History of the English People. 

20. Dicken’s Child’s History of England. 

21. Stone’s History of England. 

22. Richardson’s Primer of American Literature. 


II 



PERIODS OF ENGLISH LITERATURE. 


I. Anglo-Saxon Period. From the landing of the Saxons 
to the Norman Conquest, 449-1066. 

II. Norman-French and Early English Period. From 
the Norman Conquest to Chaucer’s death, 1066-1400. 

III. Era of Printing and Revival of Classic Learning. 
From Chaucer’s death to Elizabeth, 1400-1558. 

IV. Elizabethan Period. From Elizabeth to Charles I, 
1558-1625. 

V. Puritan Era. From Charles I. to the Restoration, 
1625-1660. 

VI. Era of the Restoration and Age of Anne. From the 
Restoration to Swift’s death, 1660-1745. 

VII. From Swift’s death to the death of Scott, 1745- 
1832. 

VIII. From Scott’s death to the present time, 1832- 
1889. 


13 


THE ARYAN, 

INDO-GERMANIC, OR INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. 


THE ARYAN FAMILY OF LANGUAGES. 


Indjc 


Iranic 


Hellenic 


Romanic 


i 


Celtic 


-1 


Sanscrit and other 
languages of India. 

Zend and other languages 
of Iran and Persia. 

Ancient and 
Modern Greek. 

Latin, Italian, French, 
Spanish, Portuguese. 

f ^ . f Welsh, Breton, 

' Cymric ^ , 

( Cornish. 

Highland Scotch, 


Gcelic 


Irish, Manx. 


Sclavonic 


Russian, Polish, 

Bohemian, Bulgarian. 

r ,. . f Icelandic, Norwegian, 

I Scandinavian ^ ^ 

Swedish, Danish. 


Teutonic \ 


Germanic 


High German s German. 


^ Dutch, 

Low German A Flemish, 
(_ English. 


15 








HISTORICAL SKETCH. 


5, 7, 8, 10, II, 13, 19, 30, 31. 

I. At the beginning of the historic period, Britain was 
inhabited by Celts, a people once occupying Gaul, parts of 
Spain and Italy and some provinces in Central Europe. 

II. Britain became known to the Romans through Julius 
Caesar, 55 and 54 B. C. The conquest of Britain was begun 
by Plautius, 43 A. D., and completed by Agricola, 78-84 
A. D., and for about three and one-half centuries South 
Britain was a Roman province and extensively occupied by 
a people speaking the Latin tongue. The Roman legions 
were recalled to defend Rome from the northern barbarians 
from 409 to 420 A. D. 

III. After the withdrawal of the Romans, Britain was 
invaded by the Angles, Saxons and Jutes of the Teutonic 
race, who gradually conquered the island, exterminated the 
Celts or drove them to the mountains for safety, and estab- 
lished their government, religion and language. Christianity 
was introduced among the Anglo-Saxons by St. Augustine, 
sent by Pope Gregory, 597 A. D. The seven or eight king- 
doms constituting the Saxon Heptarchy were united under 
Egbert, king of Wessex, 827 A. D. 

IV. In the latter part of the ninth century extensive set- 
tlements were made in the north-eastern part of England by 
a Scandinavian people, the Northmen or Danes, who were 
closely related to the Anglo-vSaxons, possessing a similar 
language and religion. England conquered by the Danes, 


17 


i8 


OUTLINES OF 


1013. Danish kings upon the English throne, 1 01 3-1042. 
Saxon line restored in the person of Edward the Confessor 
who reigned from 1042 till 1066. 

V. In 1066 England was conquered by the Normans, 
who were originally Norsemen or Danes, but who had been 
settled in France a century and a half and had adopted the 
language and customs of the people of Northern France. 
The effect of the Conquest was to ‘‘bring England into 
closer contact with the higher civilization of the continent 
and infuse into the Anglo-Saxon race new life and a more 
progressive spirit.” 


ENGLISH LITERATURE. 


^9 


ORIGIN OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 

5, 7, 10, II, i6, 17. 

The Aryan, Indo-European or Indo-Germanic family of 
languages includes nearly all the languages of Europe with 
a part of those of Asia. From a comparison of these lan- 
guages it is believed that they are descended from a com- 
mon parent tongue, spoken by a people dwelling between 
the Indus and Euphrates, at some remote period in the 
past. 

Of the seven branches included in this family, the English 
language is more or less closely allied to three. With the 
Celtic it has come into close geographical contact ; from the 
Latin it has derived full half its literary vocabulary ; of the 
Teutonic it is itself a member. To these three branches 
may be traced the principal elements that have entered into 
its formation. 

I. Celtic. — This branch, once widely spread over West- 
ern Europe, is now confined to portions of the British Isles 
and Northwestern France. It has had no effect upon the 
grammar of the English language and but little upon the 
vocabulary. The words belonging to it may be considered 
under three classes : (a) those received directly from the 

ancient Britons ; (/^) those brought by the Norman-French 
from Gaul ; (<r) those received from the Highlands of Scot- 
land, from Ireland, or from the writings of Sir Walter Scott. 


20 


OUTLINES OF 


Many geographical terms are from the Celtic, as Thames, 
Ke7it, be7i, or pen, meaning mountain, as in Apennines, and 
avon or ex, meaning water, found in Oicse, Usk, Esk, Ax- 
minster, Oxford, Uxbridge, Exeter, and other words. Ex- 
amples of miscellaneous words are clan ; claymof'e, a sword ; 
bi'ogue, a kind of shoe ; pibroch, bagpipe music ; slogan, a 
war-cry ; barrow, a funeral mound ; cradle, mop, bard, shani- 
i'ock, etc. 

II. Latin. — (a) To the Roman Conquest our language 
is but little indebted. Upon the withdrawal of the Romans 
in the fifth century, the language disappeared almost wholly 
and but six words were retained, most of which became pre- 
fixes or suffixes of the names of places. These six words 
were castra, a camp ; strata via, a paved road ; colonia, 
a colony ; portus, a harbor ; vallum, a rampart ; and fossa, 
a trench. From castra we have Laiicaster, Leicester, Man- 
chester, Winchester, and others ; from colonia, Lincoln and 
Colne ; from strata, street, and in its different forms, SUat- 
ford, SEetton and Stratton; Bridgport and Portsmouth come 
from portus ; Eossway and Eossbrook from fossa; and wall, 
bailey and bailiff ixom vallum. 

{b) As a result of the introduction of Christianity, 597 
A. D., Latin was made the official language of the church, 
and a considerable number of Latin terms was introduced, 
chiefly the names of church offices, services and observances ; 
as episcopus, bishop ; monaclms, monk ; clericus, clerk ; etc. 

(c) The great majority of Latin terms have found their 
way into the language in three epochs : the thirteenth cen- 
tury, following a period devoted to classical study ; the six- 
teenth, in which a revival of learning took place ; and the 


ENGLISH LITERATURE. 


21 


eighteenth, when Johnson, who admired the Latin style, 
published the first English Dictionary. 

III. Danish. — The Danes were of the same branch as 
the Anglo-Saxons, and the Danish element had but little in- 
fluence upon the language. It is difflcult to determine the 
extent of this influence because of the similarity between the 
two languages. Words of probable Danish origin are names 
of places ending in by, a town, as Whitby, Grimsby, and by- 
laiv, a law for a town, names of places in wich, and names 
of persons in son. BecJz, a stream ; fell, a hill ; firth or fiord, 
an arm of the sea ; holm, an island in a river ; kBk, a church ; 
thorpe, a village ; tarn, a small mountain lake ; and the verb 
are, come from the Danish. 

IV. Norman-French. — The influence of this element 
was very great. After the Conquest the native tongue was 
retained by the Saxons, but Norman-French became the 
language of court, of the church, of law courts, schools, 
society and literature, while Latin was the language of 
theology, science and history. Gradually, however, a decline 
in Norman-French took place, the two languages coalesced, 
and by the end of the fourteenth century had assumed the 
form known as Middle English. 

As a result of the Norman Conquest the language was 
changed from an inflectional to a non-inflectional tongue, 
vast numbers of native words were lost — from one-third to 
one-half — and many French words were introduced. Ex- 
amples of these are words relating to feudalism, as homage, 
fealty, esquire, vassal, herald; words connected with the 
chase, as couple, course, forest, mews, quarry, venison ; law 
terms, as court, judge, summons, trespass, and many others. 


22 


OUTLINES OF 


Frequently names of cooked meat are Norman-French while 
the names of living animals are Anglo-Saxon. Thus we have 
beef ox; muttoji and sheep; veal and calf; pork and 
swine. In general we obtain class-names from the Norman- 
French, while the names of individual objects are largely 
Anglo-Saxon. 

V. Greek. — To the Greek we are indebted for nine- 
tenths of our scientific terms, for names of inventions and 
slightly for terms in common use. Examples : astro 7 iomy^ 
geology, geog 7 'aphy, telegraph, telephone, etc. 

VI. Anglo-Saxon. — The main source of the English 

is the Saxon. Percentage of Anglo-Saxon in modern Eng- 
lish, exclusive of scientific and provincial terms, about five- 
eighths ; in the vocabulary of common conversation, four- 
fifths. Relative proportion of Anglo-Saxon in various de- 
partments of literature : Bible, 93 ; Poetry, 88 ; Essay, 78 ; 

History, 72; Prayer-Book, 87; Fiction, 87 ; Oratory, 76; 
Newspaper, 72. 

VII. Miscellaneous Elements. — Introduced mainly 
as a result of travel and commerce. 

Hebrew. Ex., seraphim, cherubim, amen, jubilee, sab- 
bath, Satan, manna. 

Arabic. Ex., algebra, almanac, zero, coffee, sugar, lemon, 
syrup, alcohol, cotton, assassin, mosque. 

Persian. Ex., caravan, scarlet, lilac, shawl, orange, 
bazaar, paradise. 

Turkish. Ex., tulip, ottoman, divan, scimitar. 


ENGLISH LITERATURE. 


23 


Chinese, Ex., tea, china, Bohea, Hyson, Nankeen. 

Malay. Ex., rattan, bamboo, mandarin, bantam, sago, 
gong. 

Hindoo, Ex., calico, chintz, jungle, banyan, pagoda, 
shampoo. 

West Indian. Ex., tobacco, maize, hurricane, canoe, 
cannibal. 

North American. Ex., squaw, tomahawk, wigwam. 

Italian. Ex., opera, piano, soprano, piazza, carnival, vol- 
cano, umbrella. 

Spanish. Ex., mosquito, negro, tornado, vanilla. 

French. Ex., etiquette, belle, debris, ennui, trousseau, 
soiree, matinee. 

Dutch. Ex., yacht, sloop, schooner, yawl, boor, ballast, 
reef, skate, smack, smuggle. 


24 


OUTLINES OF 


I. ANGLO-SAXON PERIOD. 

From the landing of the Saxons to the Norman Conquest, 
449-1066. 


I. POETRY. 

5 » 6, 7, 8, 9, II, 16. 

Beowulf^ an epic poem of more than six thousand lines, 
composed by Saxons before the invasion of England. 

Metrical Paraphrase of the Scf'iptures by Caedmon, a 
Northumbrian monk. The first true English poem. 

Fragments of Poems : Song of the IVaveller ; The Fight 
at Finsburg ; Judith, relating to the banquet of Holofernes, 
his death, and the attack on the Assyrian camp. 

II. PROSE. 

5, 6, 7, S, 9, II, 16. 

Baeda or Bede, the Venerable (673-735), wrote in Latin 
the Ecclesiastical History of the English, for years the only 
source of knowledge relating to the early history of England. 
Translation of the Gospel of John into English. 

Alfred the Great (819-901). Translations of Bede’s Ec- 
clesiastical History, Ancient History of Orosius, Boethius' 
Consolations of Philosophy. Alfred’s writings are pro- 
nounced ^^the purest specimens of Anglo-Saxon prose.” 


ENGLISH LITERATURE. 


25 


Anglo-Saxon Chronicle^ '^the earliest history of any Teu- 
tonic people in their own language.” Beginning with the 
invasion of Caesar it was brought down to the year 891 and 
continued by monks in seven different monasteries as a con- 
temporary history until the death of Stephen, 1154. 

FOR FURTHER STUDY. 

Early forms of writing."* Books ; materials, forms, 
method of making.^* Derivation of words relating to books, 
as paper, library, Bible, volume, book, leaf, page, style, pen, 
parchment, vellum, palimpsest."^- Anglo-Saxon poetry.^* ^* 9- 
Character of the Anglo-Saxons.^* Mythology. 


26 


OUTLINES OF 


II. NORMAN-FRENCH AND EARLY ENGLISH PERIOD. 

From the Conquest to the death of Chaucer, 1066-1400. 

SOVEREIGNS. 

The Norman Family. — William I. ; William II. ; Henry 

I. ; Stephen. 

The Plantagenet Family. — Henry II. ; Richard I. ; John ; 

Henry HI. ; Edward I. ; Edward II. ; Edward HI. ; 

Richard II. 

GENERAL OUTLINE. 

7, S, 21. 

During the three and a half centuries from the Conquest 
to the death of Chaucer many changes took place in Eng- 
land. For a time the Normans formed the ruling class in 
society, while the Saxons were reduced to the condition of 
serfs. Lands and offices were taken from the Saxons and 
given to the Normans, and a feeling of bitter hostility existed 
between the two races. But with the loss of Normandy in 
1204 the Normans were obliged to regard England as their 
home, and with common interests and a common enemy the 
two races gradually became one. 

The prevalence of war was unfavorable to the pursuit of 
agriculture, but many useful inventions were made and trade 
and commerce increased. Flemish weavers were introduced 
in the reign of Edward HI., and the manufacture of cloth 
became a home industry. 


ENGLISH LITERATURE. 


27 


A great gulf separated the rich from the poor. Punish- 
ments were brutal, and lawlessness prevailed. The tourna- 
ment, horse-racing, bull-baiting and archery were favorite 
amusements. After the crusades extravagance in dress and 
living characterized the higher classes. 

The great controlling element in government was the 
church, which rose to the zenith of its power in the thirteenth 
century. 

During the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries the cause 
of learning received considerable attention. Schools and 
colleges were established at Oxford and Cambridge, and 
large numbers of pupils were drawn thither. Books were 
copied from manuscript in the monasteries and were few 
and costly. War was still the occupation of the great, hence 
the masses remained uneducated. 

LITERATURE. 

5» 6, 7, 8, 9, II, 16. 

History of Britain^ by Geoffrey of Monmouth, a Welsh 
priest at the Court of Henry I. This was a Latin translation 
of old Welsh legends and was the beginning of story-telling 
in England. It was translated into French, added to with 
Breton legends and in this form returned to England as the 
work of Wace. 

5, 6, 7, 8, 9, II, 16. 

Layamon’s Brut^ a translation in verse of the French 
B}'ut d' Angle terre, but more than twice the length of the 
original. Written early in the thirteenth century in almost 
pure Saxon, it is a valuable illustration of the state of our 
language at that time. 


28 


OUTLINES OF 


S. 6, 7, S, 9, II, i6. 

The Ormtilum by Onn, supposed to have been written in 
the thirteenth century, is a metrical version of the service of 
each day, with the addition of a sermon in verse. It marks 
the rise of English religious literature. 

Translations and imitations of French romances had a 
tendency to group themselves about great names. Among 
the great romantic stories were those of ArtJmr and the 
Kfiights of the Round Table (first introduced into England 
by Geoffrey of Monmouth), Charlemagne and his peers ^ Life 
of Alexander, and Siege of Troyd' 

WRITERS OF THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY. 

L 5 » 6, 7, S, 9, 10, II, 12, 15, 16. 

Geoffrey Chaucer (1328 or 1340-1400), The Canterbury 
Tales, Minor poems. 

William Langlande, Vision of Pie 7 ^s Ploughman, a satirical 
poem, aimed at the corruptions of the church. 

Jonn Wycliffe (1324-1384), a complete translation of the 
Sc 7 'iptu 7 'es from the Latin Vulgate into English. 

Sir John Mandeville (1300-1372), an account of his 
travels written in Latin, afterwards translated into French 
and English. 

John Gower (1325-1404,) Speculiwi Medita 7 itis, Vox 
Cla 77 ia 7 itis, Co 7 ifessio A 77 ia 7 itis. 

SUBJECTS FOR FURTHER STUDY. 

Troubadours and Trouveres ; their influence upon English 
literature, s. 6, 1, 13, 15- 


ENGLISH LITERATURE. 


29 


III. ERA OF PRINTING AND REVIVAL OF CLASSIC 

LEARNING. 

From Chaucer’s death to the accession of Elizabeth, 
1400-1558. 

SOVEREIGNS. 

House of Lancaster. — Henry IV. ; Henry V. ; Henry VI. 

House of York. — Edward IV. ; Edward V. ; Richard HI. 

House of Tudor.— Henry VII. ; Flenry VIII. ; Edward VI. ; 
Mary. 

IMPORTANT EVENTS. 

Discovery of America, 1492. Protestant Reformation. 
Teaching of Greek at Oxford. Revival of Learning. Es- 
tablishment of Schools. Discovery of printing and introduc- 
tion into England. 

GENERAL OUTLINE. 

7, S, 19, 21. 

The period following the death of Chaucer was one of 
literary decay. The exhausted state of the country resulting 
from the Hundred Years’ War with France, riots and dis- 
content among the lower classes and the Wars of the Roses 
retarded the development of literature during the early part 
of the period. But the invention of printing, the revival of 
classic study, discoveries of new countries and scientific 
truths and religious inquiry were operating at this time upon 


30 


OUTLINES OF 


intellectual development and prepared the way for the bril- 
liant period to follow. 


I. POETRY. 

S» 6, 7, 8, 9, i6. 

John Lydgate (1374-1460), for fifty years the most 
popular English poet. Author of poetical compositions for 
May-day and Christmas festivals, pageants and masks before 
the king. 

Thomas Occleve, noted only for his lament for his master, 
Chaucer. 

James I. of Scotland, the most brilliant poet of the fif- 
teenth century. For nineteen years a prisoner in England. 
His principal work. The King's Quair, a poetical record of 
the incidents of his life, particularly of his queen, Jane Beau- 
fort, grand-daughter of John of Gaunt. 

Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey (15 17-1547), to whom we 
owe the introduction of the sonnet from Italian literature, 
and of blank verse, first used by him in the translation of 
the second and fourth books of the KTnead, 

Sir Thomas Wyatt (1503-1542), a disciple of Surrey, the 
author of songs and sonnets. 

The Old English Ballads, composed between the times of 
Chaucer and Spencer, were rude and simple in outline but 
strong in their hold upon the people. First gathered into a 
volume by Bishop Percy in the latter part of the eighteenth 
century. 


ENGLISH LITERATURE. 


31 


II. PROSE. 

5 > 6, 7, S, 9, II, 16. 

Sir Thomas More (1480-1535), The Life of Edward F., 
the first examples of good English language Utopia^ 
written in Latin, the work upon which his fame rests. 

William Caxton ( 14 1 2-149 1), Game of the Chesse ; 
Translations. 

Roger Ascham (1515-1568), Toxophiliis, written to revive 
an interest in archery ; The Schoolmaster, still valuable for 
the principles of teaching contained in it. 

William Tyndale (1480-1536). Translation of the New 
Testa^nent and part of the Old. No other book has had so 
great an influence on English literature. 

Miles Coverdale, Bishop of Exeter, published the first 
printed copy of the whole Bible. It is inferior to Tyndale’s 
version. 

SUBJECTS FOR FURTHER STUDY. 

Revival of Learning; causes and results.^’ The Eng- 
lish Bible."’ 


3 


32 


OUTLINES OF 


IV. ELIZABETHAN PERIOD. 

From Elizabeth to Charles I., 1558-1625. 

SOVEREIGNS. 

House of Tudor (continued). — Elizabeth. 

House of Stuart. — James I. 

IMPORTANT EVENTS. 

Rise of the drama. Circumnavigation of the globe by 
Drake, 1580. Defeat of the Spanish Armada, 1588. Exe- 
cution of Mary Queen of Scots, 1587. Establishment of 
schools. 

GENERAL OUTLINE. 

5, 7, S, II, 19, 20, 21. 

The Elizabethan period, or Golden Age of English Liter- 
ature, covers the most brilliant epoch in English history. 
The spirit of discovery led to remarkable progress in the ex- 
ploration of new countries and in trade and commerce, while 
many useful inventions increased the comfort of living. In 
her government Elizabeth was aided by a body of statesmen 
remarkable for sagacity and high intellectual power. The 
language had reached its thorough development. The 
writers were men of originality and culture and formed a 
constellation unrivalled for its brilliancy in philosophy, poetry 
and dramatic literature. Learning received much attention. 


ENGLISH LITERATURE. 


33 


and Trinity College at Dublin, the Westminster School at 
London and the famous school at Rugby were established 
during Elizabeth’s reign. 

WRITERS. 

4 > 5 > 7 » 9 > 

Edmund Spenser (1553-1599)- The Shepherd's Calen- 
dar^ a pastoral poem, divided into twelve eclogues, one for 
each month in the year. Afterwards revised and dedicated 
to Sidney, under the title. The Poet's Year, 

The Faerie Qtceen^ an allegory designed for twelve books, 
each book representing a virtue in the person of a knight, 
who went forth to conquer. But six of these books were 
published. 

Daphnaida and Astrophel, elegies on the deaths of Lady 
Howard and Sir Philip Sidney. 

Epithalamium^ the most beautiful marriage hymn in the 
language. 

Mother Hnbberd's Tale^ a satire : View of the State of 
Ireland (prose). 

Sir Philip Sidney (1554-1586). Astrophel and Stella^ 
a collection of sonnets. 

The Countess of Pemb^^oke's Arcadia^ a prose romance. 

The Defense of Poesy ^ a defense of poets against an attack 
from a Puritan point of view. 

William Shakespeare (15 64-16 16). 

Poems. — Vemis and Adonis; Rape of Luci^ece ; Sonnets^ 
one hundred fifty-four. 

Plays. — Historical. — Henry VI, Richard //., Richai'd 
III.,fohn, Heiuy IV., Henry V., Henry VIII, and others. 


34 


OUTLINES OF 


Semi-Historical. — Hamlet^ King Lear^ Macbeth^ Julius 
Ccesar, Anthony and Cleopatra, and others. 

Fictional. — Love's Labor Lost, Comedy of Errors, Mid- 
summer Night's Dream, Merchant of Venice, Romeo and 
Juliet, Othello, The Winter's Tale, The Tempest, and others. 

Sir Francis Bacon (1561-1626). Instatiration of the 
Sciences, a scientific work ; The Wisdom of the Ancients ; 
The New Atlantis, a philosophical romance ; Essays. 

Sir W alter Raleigh (1561-1618). History of the World. 

Richard Hooker (1553-1600), a celebrated English 
divine. Laws of Eccleastical Polity, a defense of the Church 
of England against the attack of Puritanism. ^‘One of the 
master pieces of English eloquence.” 

Ben Jonson (15 73-1637), a dramatist and friend of Shakes- 
peare. Every Man in his Humor, a comedy; Eall of Se- 
janus, a tragedy ; Catiline's Conspiracy. 

FOR FURTHER STUDY. 

Rise of the drama. S’ 7- 9. 12. 


ENGLISH LITERATURE. 


35 


V. PURITAN ERA. 

From Charles I. to the Restoration, 1625-1660. 

RULERS. 

House of Stuart. — Charles I. ; Cromwell. 

GENERAL OUTLINE. 

7, S, II, 12, 19, 20, 21. 

This period was disturbed by civil war between the king 
and Parliament, which resulted in the defeat of the Royal- 
ists, the trial and execution of Charles I. and establishment 
of the Commonwealth with Cromwell as Protector. The 
drama and poetry declined, but prose literature became 
graver, less romantic and exhibited a strong religious 
character. 

WRITERS. 

L 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, S, 9, 10, II, 12, 16. 

John Milton (1608-1674). Literary career, 1623-1640. 
Hymn 07 i the Nativity^ composed at the age of twenty-one. 

HAllegi'o^ II Penseroso, odes, written at his country seat 
at Horton ; Comus, Aixades^ masques ; Lycidas, an elegy, 
a tribute to the memory of Milton’s friend and fellow-student, 
Edward King, lost at sea on a voyage to Ireland. 

1640-1660. — Af'eopagitica, or Speech for the Liberty of 
Unlicensed Printing ; Tractate on Education ; Iconoclastes ; 
Defensio Poptili Anglicani. 

1660-1674 . — Paradise Lost, an epic poem in twelve books. 


36 


OUTLINES OF 


Paradise Regained^ an epic poem in four books. Samson 
Agonisies, a choral drama after the Greek model. Sonnets. 

Edmund Waller (1605-1687). Poet and politician, 
author of many short poems consisting of elegant and 
polished verses. 

Abram Cowley (1618-1667). One of the most popular 
poets of his day. 

Robert Herrick (1591-1674). One of the sweetest lyric 
writers of his time. 

George Herbert (1593-1632). A Christian poet and 
rector of a country parish. The Temple ; or Sacred Poems 
and Private Ejacidations ; The Country Parson (prose). 

Izaak Walton (1593-1683). The Complete Angler ; Lives 
of Walton, Hooker, He^Pert, and others. 

Thomas Fuller (1608-1661). Known as quaint old 
Thomas Fuller.” A witty English divine. The Worthies of 
England; Clmrch History of Britain. 

Jeremy Taylor (1613-1667). Holy Living and Holy 
Dying. 

Isaac Barrow (1630-1677). iV noted mathematician, 
writer and theologian. Author of mathematical works and 
theological treatises. 

Richard Baxter (1615-1691). A great Puritan divine. 
Sainfs Everlasting Rest ; A Call to the Unconverted. 


ENGLISH LITERATURE. 


37 


VI. ERA OF THE RESTORATION AND AGE OF 

ANNE. 

From the Restoration to Swift’s death, 1660-1745. 

SOVEREIGNS. 

House of Stuart. — Charles II. ; James II. ; William and 
Mary ; Anne. 

House of Brunswick. — George I. ; George II. 

IMPORTANT EVENTS. 

Founding of the Royal Society by Charles I. for the pro- 
motion of science, 1662. Great plague and fire in London, 
1665-6. Revocation of Edict of Nantes, 1685. Revolu- 
tion of 1688. Establishment of five great hospitals, 1719- 

45 - 

GENERAL OUTLINE. 

5, 7, S, 12, 19, 20, 21. 

The revolution of 1660 placed Charles II. upon the throne 
of England, and the severity of Puritan rule was succeeded 
by a period of debauchery and lawlessness. The literature 
reflected the nation’s thought. The drama was corrupt, and 
the theatres, reopened under Charles, filled to overflowing. 
The writings of the Puritans only remained untainted by the 
atmosphere of immorality and excess. In poetry the arti- 
ficial style succeeded the natural. 

The Revolution of 1688 destroyed at a blow the doctrine 
of the Divine Right of Kings and by political measures 


38 


OUTLINES OF 


established upon a sure foundation the prosperity of the 
English people. Religious toleration was granted and an 
impulse given to progress in science and philosophy. Trade 
and commerce flourished, especially with the East and with 
American colonies. 

In the early part of the eighteenth century a new form of 
English literature was developed, that of the essay and 
periodical. The romance was also replaced by the novel. 


WRITERS. 

L 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, S, 9, 10, ii, 12, 16. 

John Bunyan (1628-1688). The greatest master of 
allegory in the language. The Pilgrim'' s Prog 7 'ess ; The 
Holy War; Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners. 

Samuel Butler (1612-1680). The greatest burlescpie 
writer of the age. Hiidibras^ a satire ridiculing the man- 
ners of the Puritans. 

Samuel Pepys (1632-1703). Author of a diary depict- 
ing the life of the times. 

John Dryden (1631-1700). Annus Mi 7 ^abilis,\\x'\iit\\ to 
commemorate the Fire of London, the Plague and the War 
with the Dutch. 

Absalo 7 ?i and Achitophel, a satire, attacking the most 
noted men of the English court. 

Religio Laici^ a defense of the English Church against the 
Dissenters. 

The Hind and the Panther, a poem, half allegorical, writ- 
ten in behalf of the Roman Catholic Church. 


ENGLISH LITERATURE. 39 

Ode on St. Cecilia's Day ; Alexande)''' s Feast, his finest 

lyric ; Translation of the /Eneid. 

John Locke (1632-1704). A metaphysical writer. His 
great work, Essay on the Human Understanding. 

Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727). A noted philosopher, 
distinguished for his discoveries in Mechanics, Astronomy 
and Optics. Author of scientific works. 

• Alexander Pope (1688-1744). Ode on' Solitude, written 
before the age of twelve. 

Essay on Criticisin, a selection of precepts from Horace, 
Shakespeare and other critics of poetry. Regarded by some 
as the finest piece of argumentative poetry in the language. 
Composed at the age of twenty-one. 

Rape of the Lock, the most brilliant specimen of mock- 
heroic poetry in the language. It gives a vivid picture of 
fashionable English life during the reign of Anne. 

JFindsor Forest, a descriptive poem ; Translation of the 
Iliad and Odyssey ; the Dunciad, a bitter satire, written to 
avenge himself on his literary enemies ; Essay on Man, 
published in four epistles. The grandest and most influen- 
tial of his works. 

Joseph Addison (1672-1719). Address to Dryden ; The 
Campaign, written to commemorate the victory at Blenheim ; 
Rosamond, an opera ; The Drummer, a comedy ; Essays, 
contributions to the Tatter, Spectator, and Guardian ; Cato, 
a tragedy. 

Richard Steele (1675-1729). Founded the Tatler, a tri- 
weekly paper, the Spectator, published six times a week, and 
the Guardian. 


40 


OUTLINES OF 


Jonathan Swift (1667-1745). Tale of a Tub, a powerful 
satire, written to ridicule the Romanists and Presbyterians, 
and defend the Church of England ; The Battle of the Books ; 
The Drapier Letters, published in a Dublin newspaper ; Gul- 
liver's Travels, a satire upon humanity. The greatest and 
most characteristic of his works. 

Daniel DeFoe (1661-1731). True-born Englishman, a 
satire upon foreigners and defense of King William and the 
Dutch; The Shortest Way with Dissenters ; Robinson Cnc- 
soe, one of the most widely diffused of English productions ; 
The Me^noirs of a Cavalier, professed to have been written 
by one who had taken part in the Civil War ; A foujiial of 
the Great Plague in London, as observed by an assumed 
shop-keeper. More than once it passed for genuine his- 
tory ; True~ Relation of the Apparition of One Mrs. Veal, 
written to secure the sale of an unsalable book. 

Edward Young (1681-1765). Author of a striking and 
original poem. The Night Thoughts. A large number of ex- 
pressions have passed from this poem into colloquial lan- 
guage. 

James Thomson (1700-1748). The Seasons ; The Cas- 
tle of Indolence. 

William Collins (1721-1759). The Passions; How 
Sleep the Brave; Ode to Evening. 

Lady Mary Wortley Montague (1690-1762). Author of 
letters describing her travels in Europe and the East. 


ENGLISH LITERATURE. 


41 


VII. SEVENTH PERIOD. 

From Swift’s death to the death of Scott, 1745-1832. 

4 

SOVEREIGNS. 

House of Brunswick. — George II. ; George III. ; George 
IV. 

IMPORTANT EVENTS. 

War of the Young Pretender, 1745. Battle of Culloden, 
the last battle fought in Great Britain, 1746. French and 
Indian War, 1 755-1 763. Stamp Act, 1765. Declaration of 
Independence, 1776. American Revolution, 1775-1783. 
Howard’s Reform of prisons. French Revolution, 1789. 
War of 1812. 


GENERAL OUTLINE. 

7, 8, 19, 20, 21. 

During the early part of this period the condition of the 
lower classes was one of hardship and suffering. As a result 
of the wars carried on with America and France, war prices 
more than kept pace with war wages, exorbitant taxes ex- 
cluded the comforts of life from many, and famines were not 
uncommon. In the latter part of the eighteenth and early 
part of the nineteenth centuries, criminal laws were very 
severe and punishments barbarous. The labors of John 
Howard resulted in great improvement in the condition o 
prisons. Authors were poorly paid and many lived upon 
the verge of starvation. 


42 


OUTLINES OF 


By the first of the nineteenth century, however, material 
progress had been made in Great Britain. Trade and com- 
merce were extended in all directions. Invention of ma- 
chinery and the use of steam gave an impulse to manufact- 
ures. After the close of the FAiropean war the state of so- 
ciety improved, and education received more attention. 

In literature, prose was in the ascendant over poetry. The 
period is noted as the era of the commencement of maga- 
zines and reviews. The novel attained great popularity and 
was the most important literary production of the time. 

FIRST TART: TO THE FRENCH REVOLUTION, lySg. 

NOVELISTS. 

ii 2, 4, s, 6 , 7, S, 9, 10, II, 12, i 6 . 

Samuel Richardson (1689-1761). Pamela; or Virtue 
Rewarded ; Clarissa Harlowe ; Sir Chaides Gra^idison, 

Henry Fielding (1707-1754). The Life of Jonathan 
Wild the Great; Tom Jones ; Amelia. 

George Smollett (1721-1771). Roderick Random ; Pere- 
grine Pickle ; IFiimphrey Clinker. 

Laurence Sterne (1713-1768). Iris tram Shandy ; Sen- 

timental Journey. 


HISTORIANS. 

David Hume (1711-1776). Llistory of Englafid. 

William Robertson (1721-1793). History of Scotland ; 
History of Emperor Charles the Eifth of Germany ; History 
of America. 


ENGLISH LITERATURE. 


43 


Edward Gibbon (1737-1794). Decline and Fall of the 
Roman EmpFe. 


POETS. 

Oliver Goldsmith (1728-1774). Poet, novelist, historian. 

The Traveller, a poem sketched while wandering in the 
guise of a beggar through Europe. 

Letters from a Citizen of the World, describing English 
life and manners under the guise of a Chinese traveller. 

The Vicar of Wakefield, a novel ; The Good Natiired 
Man, a comedy ; The Deserted Village, his finest poem. 

She Stoops to Conquer, one of the gayest and most amus- 
ing comedies ever put upon the English stage. 

Histories of England, Greece, and Afiimated Nature. 

Thomas Gray (1716-1771). Noted for his great learning 
and researches into the literature of the Middle Ages, in 
French and Italian, and the departments of Celtic and 
Scandinavian poetry. 

Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College ; Elegy Writ- 
ten in a Country Churchyard ; Pindaric Odes; The Bard. 

MISCELLANEOUS. 

Samuel Johnson ( [ 700-1 784). A Dictionary of the Eng- 
lish La 7 iguage, in preparation from 1747 to 1755. The first 
work of its kind in the language. 

The Vanity of Hu 711 a 7 i Wishes, an imitation of the Tenth 
Satire of Juvenal. 

I7'e7ie, a tragedy ; Passe las, Prmce of Abyssmia, a moral 
tale ; Lives of the Poets ; The Ra 77 ibler a 7 id Ldler, periodical 
papers in the style of Addison and Steele. 


44 


OUTLINES OF 


SECOiVD PART: TO THE DEATH OF SCOTT, 1832. 

I. POETRY. 

L 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, II, 12, 16. 

Robert Burns (1759-1796). Tam O'Shanter; Cotter's 
Saturday Night; The Jolly Beggars ; and many songs. 

George Gordon, Lord Byron (1788-1824). Hours of 
Idleness^ his first poem ; English Bards and Scotch Review- 
ers, a satire involving the literary men of the day. 

Childe Harold's Pilg 7 'image, a poem, the publication of 
which placed him at the head of the literary world. 

The Diram; The Ptisoner of Chillo 7 i; The B 7 'ide of Aby- 
dos ; The La 77 ie 7 it of Tasso ; Do 7 i Jtca 7 i. 

Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822). A brilliant lyric poet. 
Drowned in the Gulf of Spezzia, Italy. 

Quee 7 i Mab ; Alastor, or the SpBit of Solitude, the finest 
of his longer poems ; P 7 ' 077 ietheus ll 7 ibou 7 id ; The Ce 7 ici ; 
Ado 7 iais, a lament for the death ofrKeats; The Se 7 isitive 
Phi 7 it ; Ode to a Skylark; The Cloud. 

John Keats (1796-1821). One of the most promising of 
young poets. 

E 7 idy 77 iio 7 i ; Hype 7 'io 7 i; The Eve of St. Ag/ies ; Ode 07 i a 
Grecia 7 i Urn ; Ode to a Nightmgale. 

William Cowper (1731-1800). Jolm Gilpin, a famous 
comic ballad ; The Task; O71 Receipt of 7 ny Mother's Picture. 

Mrs. Felicia Dorothea Remans (1793-1835). The La 7 id- 

A 

hig of the Pilg 7 p 77 i Pathe 7 's ; The Graves of a Household; 
Ho 77 ies of E 7 igla 7 ul. 


ENGLISH LITERATURE. 


45 


II. PROSE. 

L 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, S, 9, 10, II, 12, i6. 

Walter Scott (1771-1832). 

Poems. — Lay of the Last Minstrel ; Lady of the Lake ; 
Marmion; The Lord of the Lsies, and others. 

Historical Novels. — I. Scottish. — Waverley, Pretend- 
er’s attempt in 1745 ; Legend of Montrose^ Civil War; Old 
Mortality^ Rebellion of the Covenanters ; The ALonastery, 
The Abbot, Deposition and Imprisonment of Mary Queen 
of Scots; The Fair AL aid of Perth, Reign of Robert IIP; 
Castle Dangerous, Black Douglas. 

II. English. — Ivanhoe, Return of Richard Cceur de 
Lion; Kenihuorth, Reign of Elizabeth; Fortimes of Nigel, 
Reign of James I. ; Peve 7 'il of the Peak, Reign of Charles 
II. ; Betrothed, ^^^ars of the Welsh Marches ; Talisman, the 
third Crusade, Richard Coeur de Lion ; Woodstock, Civil 
War and Commonwealth. 

III. Continental. — Quentin Ditrward, Louis XL and 
Charles the Bold ; Anne of Geierstein, Epoch of Battle of 
Nancy; Count Robert of Pains, Crusaders at Byzantium. 

Personal Novels. — Guy Manneiing ; The Antiqtiary ; 
Black Diuarf; Rob Roy; ILeart of Midlothian ; Bride- of 
Lanimetmoor ; The PBate ; St. RonaPs Well; Red Gauntlet; 
SurgeoPs Daughter ; Two Drovers ; Llighland Widow. 

Edmund Burke (1730-1797). A political writer and 
orator. 

Essay on the Sublime and Beautiful ; Reflections on the 
Fi^ench Revolution ; Letter to a Noble Lord. 

Jane Austen (1775-1817). Author of novels depicting 
the life of the rural gentry of England. 


46 


OUTLINES OF 


Sense and Sensibility ; Pride and Prejudice ; Mansfield 
Park. 

Hannah More (1745-1833). Author of dramas, tales 
and educational works. A very influential writer. 

Thoughts on the Manners of the Great; Coelebs in Search 
of a Wife; Female Education. 

Charles Lamb (1775-1834). Author of poems and essays 
contributed to the London Magazine. A school-fellow and 
friend of Coleridge. 

Essays of Elia ; Old Familiar Faces ^ etc. 


ENGLISH LITERATURE. 


47 


VIII. EIGHTH PERIOD. 

From the death of Scott to the present time, 1832 . 

SOVEREIGNS. 

House of Brunswick. — William IV. ; Victoria. 

LAKE POETS. 

L 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, S, 9, 10, II, 12, 16. 

William Wordsworth (1770-1850). The founder of the 
Lake School of poetry. 

The Excu 7 ^sion; Ode on Immortality ; We are Seven; 
Sonnets^ etc. 

Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834). The Ancient 
Mariner ; Christabel ; Kubla Khan^ a fragment. 

Robert Southey (1774-1843). Madoc ; Curse of 

Kehama ; Thalaba ; Life of Nelson^ and many others in 
prose and poetry. 

POETS. 

Thomas Moore (1779-1852). Personal friend and bio- 
grapher of Byron. 

Odes of Anacreoii ; Ldsh Melodies, a collection of about 
one hundred twenty-five songs, written to furnish words for 
a number of beautiful national airs. 

Lalla Rookh, a brilliant picture of oriental life. The 
story, a prose tale, forms the setting for four poems : The 


4 


48 


OUTLINES OF 


Veiled Pi'ophet^ The Fire Worshipper's, Paradise and the 
Peri, and The Light of the Harem, 

The Fudge Family in Paris, purporting to be a series of 
letters written from France at the time of the Restoration of 
the Bourbons. A sparkling satire. 

Biographies of Sheridan, Byron, and Fitzgerald. 

Walter Savage Landor (1775-1864). Author of 
Imaginary Conversations and many poems. 

James Henry Leigh Hunt (1784-1859). Author of prose 
essays and sketches, and poems, among which are The Story 
of Rimini, The Palfrey, and A Legend of Florence. 

Thomas Campbell (1777-1844). Pleasures of Hope ; 
Gertrude of Wyoming ; Lord Ullin''s Daughter, etc. 

Thomas Hood (1798-1845). Eugene Aram's Dr'eam ; 
The Song of the Shirt; The Bridge of Sighs ; Plea of the 
Midsummer Fairies. 

Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1809-1861). Prometheus 
Bound; Casa Guidi Windows, giving impressions of Italian 
life seen at Florence ; Atirora Leigh, a novel in verse ; The 
Cry of the Children, etc. 

Robert Browning (1812 ). The head of the psycho- 

logical school of poets. 

Paracelsus ; Pippa Passes; The Pied Piper of Hamelin, etc. 

Alfred Tennyson ( 1 8 1 o ) . The Princess, a medley ; In 

Me^noriam, a collection of one hundred twenty-nine poems 
in memory of the poet’s friend, Arthur Henry Hallam. 

Idylls of the King, in which are celebrated the deeds of 
Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table ; Locks ley Hall ; 
Maud; E^ioch Ai'den. 


49 


ENGLISH LITERATURE. 

Jean Ingelow (1830 ). Off the Skelligs, prose ; Songs 

of Seven ; So 7 igs of the Night Watches; High Tide on the 
Coast of Lincolnshire. 


NOVELISTS. 

Frances Burney, Countess cl’Arblay (1752-1840). 
Evelina; Cecilia; Camilla. 

Frederick Marryat (1792-1848). A captain in the Royal 
Navy. Stands at the head of marine novelists. 

Peter Simple ; facob Faithful ; Midshipman Easy. 

Mary Russell Mitford (1786-1855). Our Village. 

Charlotte Bronte (1816-1855). Currer Bell.” fane 
Eyre ; Shirley ; Villette. 

William Makepeace Thackeray (1811-1863). Vanity 
Fair; Pendennis ; Henry Esmond; The Virginians ; The 
Newcomes ; Lectures on the English Humoidsts and the 
Four Geoiges. 

Charles Dickens (1812-1870). Sketches by Boz; The 
Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club ; Nicholas Nickle- 
by ; Old Curiosity Shop; Barnaby Pudge ; Do?nbey and 
Son; David Copperfield ; Bleak Hotcse ; A Tale of Two 
Cities ; Little Dorrit; Oicr Mutual Friend ; ChiUrs His- 
tory of England; Edwin Drood^ left incomplete at the time 
of his death. 

Sir Edward George Bulwer-Lytton (1805-1873). The 
Last Days of Pompeii ; Rienzi; The Caxtons. 

George Eliot (1819-1881), Mrs. Marian C. Lewes. 
Scenes of Clerical Life ; The Mill on the Floss ; Silas Man- 
ner ; Romola ; Felix Holt ; Daniel Deronda. 


50 


OUTLINES OF 


ESSAYISTS AND HISTORIANS. 

Thomas de Quincey (1785-1859.) Confessions of a?i 
Opium Eater. 

Prof. John Wilson (1785-1854). Poet and essayist, 
known as ^^Christopher North ” in Blackwood’s Magazine. 

Lights and Shadows of Scottish Life ; Noctes Ambrosi- 
anae. 

Thomas Babington Macaulay (1800-1859). Lays of 
Ancient Rome, poems; Llistory of England ; Essays. 

Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881). Sartor Resartus ; His- 
tory of the E 7 'ench Revolution ; Past and Present ; Hero- 
Worship ; Life of PredeiHck the Great. 

James Anthony Froude (1818 ). One of the greatest 

English historians. 

LListofy of Efigland from the Pall of Wolsey to the Death 
of Elizabeth, in twelve volumes. 


ENGLISH LITERATURE. 


51 


POETS LAUREATE OF ENGLAND. 


Edmund Spenser, 
Samuel Daniel, 

Ben Jonson, 

William Davenant, 
John Dryden, 
Thomas Shadwell, 
Nahum Tate, 
Nicholas Rowe, 
Laurence Eusden, 
Colley Cibber, . 
William Whitehead, 
Thomas Warton, 
Henry James Pye, 
Robert Southey, 
William Wordsworth, 
Alfred Tennyson, 


1591-1599 

1599-1619 

1619-1637 

1660-1668 

1670-1689 

1689-1692 

1692-1715 

1715-1718 

1718-1730 

1730-1757 

1757-1785 

1785-1790 

1790-1813 
1813-1843 
1843-1850 
1850 — 


• % 


PART II. 


AMERICAN LITERATURE. 


i 

i 


I. THE COLONIAL PERIOD. 


1620-1775. 

The period extending from the landing of the Pilgrims, in 
1620, to the outbreak of the Revolutionary War, in 1775, 
was one of warfare and colonization. Yet, notwithstanding 
the severe hardships and struggle for existence, which occu- 
pied the energy of the early settlers, attention was early given 
to education, and American literature had its beginning with 
that of American colonization. 

The literature of this period was imitative and theologi- 
cal. This was due to several causes. The early colonists 
of Massachusetts were men who had crossed the sea to 
escape religious persecution, and, born and educated in 
England, had brought with them the culture, refinement, ed- 
ucation and domestic tastes of the mother country. The 
clergy was the educated class and exercised great influence 
in political and social matters, while all shades of religious 
belief were represented on this new soil. The result was 
a large number of treatises and pamphlets with lengthy titles 
upon theological subjects, while the novel was unknown, and 
the drama, then at its height in England, would not have 
been tolerated by our Puritan forefathers. 

The schoolhouse, as the church, was soon planted in every 
colony, and the early colleges were patterned after those of 
Oxford and Cambridge. Harvard College was begun in 
1636, and the first class formed two years later when it re- 


55 


56 


OUTLINES OF 


ceived about ^700 and a library from John Harvard, whose 
name it now bears. In 17, ooten ministers came together, 
each with a parcel of books which he deposited upon the 
table, saying, I give these books for the founding of a col- 
lege in this colony.” This was the beginning of Yale College, 
which after a wandering existence was located at New Haven, 
Connecticut, in 1716. The College of William and Mary 
was founded in Virginia in 1693, and before 1767 no less 
than seven universities had been established in America. 

The first printing press was set up at Harvard College, 
Cambridge, in 1639, book printed in America 

was the Bay Psalm Book. In 1704, the first newspaper 
was started in Boston, and for fifteen years had no compe- 
titor. The first magazine was published by Franklin in 
Philadelphia, in 1741. 


WRITERS. 

U 2, 3, 5, 9, 10, II, 22. 

Jonathan Edwards (1703-1757). A distinguished theo- 
logian and metaphysician ; the first American writer to gain 
a European reputation. 

A Treatise on the Religious Affections ; An Inquiry mto 
the Freedo 7 n of the Will ; Original Sin, and others. 

Rev. Increase Mather (1639-1723). A learned man, and 
for some years President of Harvard College. His writings 
have little literary value. Author of Remarkable Providences. 

Rev. Cotton Mather (1663-1728). Son of Increase 
Mather. His principal work, Magnalia Christi Americana, 


AMERICAN LITERATURE. 


57 


an ecclesiastical history of New England, containing much 
information concerning the country, the people, and events 
of interest. 

John Eliot (1604-1690). The Apostle to the Indians.” 
Translated the entire Bible into the Indian language ; the 
first Bible printed in America. 

Mrs. Anne Bradstreet (1612-1672). The first American 
poetess. Daughter of one Governor of Massachusetts and 
wife of another. Wrote The Four Elements, 


58 


OUTLINES OF 


II. THE REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD. 

1775-1S30. 

Before the close of the Colonial Period, questions relating 
to civil liberty and the rights of the colonists were engross- 
ing the minds of the people and literature took the form of 
oratory and of books and pamphlets relating to political 
topics. Many of the stirring speeches made at this time 
were of temporary value, but some have found a permanent 
place in American literature. Among the orators whose 
names have become familiar to every reader of history are 
James Otis, John and Samuel Adams, and Josiah Quincy, 
Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay, Patrick Henry, James 
Madison, Thomas Jefferson, and others. George Washing- 
ton, though not an orator, wrote in a clear and concise style, 
and his collected writings, consisting of messages, addresses 
and letters, fill twelve volumes. His Farewell AFlress, in 
1796, would alone entitle him to a place among American 
writers. 

The Federalist^ one of the most important publications of 
this period, was a collection of essays numbering eighty-five 
in all, written by Jay, Madison and Hamilton. Their pur- 
pose was to induce the people to support the Constitution 
and to instruct them in the elementary principles of govern- 
ment, in which the work is recognized as a standard 
authority. 


AMERICAN LITERATURE. 


59 


WRITERS. 
h 2, 3, 9> IL 22. 

Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790). A noted philosopher, 
scientist and statesman. i\uthor of essays, scientific papers 
and an Autobiography. Began the publication in 1732 of 
Poor Richard's Almanac., which was continued for twenty- 
five years. 


L 2, 3, 5, 9, 10, II, 22. 

Joseph Rodman Drake (1795-1820). A poet of great 
promise who died at the age of twenty-five. His most 
finished poem. The Culprit Fay. His most popular poem. 
The American Flag. 


U 2, 3, 5, 9, 10, II, 22. 

Fitz-Greene Halleck (1795-1867). A personal friend of 
Drake. Author of Marco Bozzafds, considered by some the 
finest martial lyric in the language. Twilight, Alnwick 
Castle, etc. 


■ U 2, 3, 5, 9, II, 22. 

Charles Brockden Brown (1771-1810). The first Ameri- 
can novelist. Author of IVieland, Osmond, Arthur Mervyn, 
and others. 

L 2, 3, 5. 

Washington Allston (1779-1843). Artist, poet and prose 
writer. Author of The Sylphs of the Seasons, Romance of 
Monaldi, etc. 


L 2, 3. 

Francis Scott Key (1779-1843). Author of the Star- 


6o 


OUTLINES OF 


Spangled Ba 7 ine 7 % composed in 1814 on the occasion of the 
bombardment of Fort McHenry, when the author was a 
prisoner of the British. 


L 3- 

Samuel Woodworth (1785-1842). — Author of The Old 
Oaken Bucket, 

L 3. 

Alexander Wilson (1766-1813). Born in Scotland. 
Founder of American ornithology. His principal work, that 
on the birds of the United States. 


AMERICAN LITERATURE. 


6 I 


III. THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. 

1830 . ‘ 

In the early part of this century when interest in political 
questions became less absorbing and was extended to more 
general subjects, American writers ceased to imitate English 
models and American literature assumed a character of its 
own. In this, as in other departments, great progress has 
been made in the last half-century. The establishment of a 
high literary order of periodicals has given an impulse to the 
best forms of fiction ; public education has created a de- 
mand for educational works ; and with every year more 
attention is paid to books designed especially for the young. 

The principal writers of this period may be considered 
under the following sections: I. Poets; II. Novelists; III. 
Essayists ; IV. Historians ; V. Orators ; VI. Miscellaneous 
Writers. 


I. POETS. 

L 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, II, 22. 

William Cullen Bryant (1794-1878). One of the greatest 
of American poets. Editor of the New -York Review, 
United States Review, New York Evening Post. 

The Embai'go, and The Spanish Revolution, written at the 
age of fourteen. 

Thanatopsis, written at the age of eighteen. 


62 


OUTLINES OF 


The Ages, delivered at Harvard, 1821. 

The Death of the Flowers ; Forest Hymn; Lines to a 
Waterfowl, etc. 


U 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, II, 22. 

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882). A distin- 
guished writer of prose and poetry. 

His principal prose works : Outre Mer, or Sketches froin 

Beyo 7 id the Sea ; Hype 7 'io 7 i, a Romance ; Kavanagh. 

His best known poems : The Golden Legend, The Song 

of Hiawatha, Evangeline, Miles Standish, The Psalm of 
Life, The Skeleton in Armor, The Rainy Day, The Village 
Blacksmith, and many others. 

L 2, 3, 5 , 7, S, 9, 10, II, 22. 

John Greenleaf Whittier (1807 ). The Quaker poet.” 

The Tent on the Beach, Snowbound, Among the Hills, The 
Pennsylvania Pilgrim, My Playmate, Maud Midler, The 
Bai'-efoot Boy, and others, including many on slavery and 
freedom. 


L 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, II, 22. 

Oliver Wendell Holmes (1809 ). A brilliant writer of 

both poetry and prose. 

His principal prose works : The Autocrat of the Break- 

fast Table ; The Pi'ofessor at the Breakfast Table ; The Poet 
at the Breakfast Table ; Elsie Ven 7 ier, and The Guardian 
A 7 igel, novels. 

His most popular poems : The Last Leaf, The Cha 77 ibe 7 'ed 
Nautilus, The Deaco 7 i‘s Masterpiece, Old Lronsides, a 
national lyric, etc. 


AMERICAN LITERATURE. 


63 


1,2,3,6,7,10,11,22. 

Edgar A. Poe (1811-1849). A native of Baltimore. 
poet of brilliant genius, but of a brief and unhappy career. 
Best known by his poems The Raven^ The Bells, Annabel 
Lee. 


II. NOVELISTS. 

I, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, II, 22. 

Washington Irving (1783-1859). The Sketch-Book, 
Braceb ridge Hall, Tales of a Traveller, History of Christo- 
pher Colujnbiis, the Alhambra, a part of which was written 
in an old Moorish palace, Life of Goldsjnith, and Life of 
Washington, a standard national biography. 

I, 2, 3, 5 , 6, 7 , 9 , 10, II, 22. 

James Fenimore Cooper (1789-1851). The first 
thoroughly American novelist ; sometimes known as the 
American Walter Scott.” Author of nautical and Indian 
tales, extensively read in America and Europe. 

The Spy, The Pilot, The Red Rover, The Prairie, The 
Last of the Mohicans, etc. 

I, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7 , 8, 9 , 10, II, 22. 

Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864). Fanshawe, Twice- 
Told Tales, a collection of previously published tales. Mosses 
from an Old Manse, The Scaidet Letter, a powerful colonial 
romance. The House of the Seve?i Gables, The Blithedale 
Ro 7 nance, The Marble Faun, an Italian romance. Our Old 
Home, and others. 

I, 3, 6, 9, 10, II, 22. 

Harriet Beecher Stowe (1812 ). Ujicle To 7 ii's Cabin, a 


64 


OUTLINES OF 


novel directed against slavery, which had the greatest 
popular success of any American book. 

Oldtown Folks, Pea^d of Ords Island, The Minister's 
Woomg, novels dealing with New England life. 

III. ESSAYISTS. 

L 2 , 3 , 5 , 6, 7 , 9 , 10 , II, 22 . 

William Ellery Channing (1780-1842). Noted as a 
charming and vigorous writer and finished orator. Author 
of sermons, lectures and essays. 

L 2, 3, 6, 7, 9, 10, II, 22. 

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882). Poet and essayist. 
Author of series of lectures upon English Literature, Philo- 
sophy of History, Human Culture, and Human Life, Essays 
on Representative Men, and poems. 

I, 2, 3 , 5 , 7 , 8, 9, 10, II, 22. 

James Russell Lowell (1819 ). Poet, critic and essayist. 

His best known poems : Vision of Sir Launfal, Biglow 

Papers, Under the Willows, and Co 7 )wie 7 noration Ode. 

His chief prose works : My Study Windows, and Among 
My Books. 

I, 2, 3, II. 

Margaret Fuller Ossoli (1810-1850). One of the most 
gifted women of the century. Author of essays upon liter- 
ary and social topics. 

IV. HISTORIANS. 

L 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 10, II, 22. 

George Bancroft (1800 ). Author of The History of 

the United States, in ten volumes. 


AMERICAN LITERATURE. 


65 


1,2, 3, 5, 6, 7, S, 10, II, 22. 

William H. Prescott (1796-1859). The most famous of 
American historians. 

History of Ferdinand and Isabella, eleven years in prep- 
aration and immediately translated into five European lan- 
guages. 

Conquest of Mexico, Conquest of Peru, History of Philip 
the Second, his last and greatest work, left unfinished at his 
death. 


L 2, 3, S, 7, 8, 10, II, 22. 

John Lothrop Motley (1814-1877). Rise of the Dutch 
Republic, in three volumes, the result of fifteen years of study 
and research. Histo 7 y of the United Nethe 7 dands, Life and 
Death of foJm of Bar 7 iev eld. 


V. ORATORS. 

I, 3, 5, 10, II. 

Daniel Webster (1782-1852). One of the greatest of 
American statesmen and orators. Among his finest speeches 
are his oration at Plymouth, address at the laying of the 
corner-stone of Bunker Hill Monument, eulogy on Adams 
and Jefferson, and reply to Hayne. 

I, 3 > S» 6, 10, II. 

Edward Everett (1794-1865). The most finished of 
American orators. Most popular addresses, his eulogies on 
Washington, Adams, Jefferson, and John Quincy Adams, and 
historical orations. 


66 


OUTLINES OF 


VI. MISCELLANEOUS WRITERS. 

I, 2 , 3 , 9 , 10 , II, 22 . 

Bayard Taylor (1825-1878). Poet, traveller and novelist. 
Among his books of travel are Views Afoot; Travels in 
Greece and Russia; At Home and Abroad ; Egypt and Ice- 
la 7 id ; Byways of Eu 7 ^ope. 

His novels are Hannah TJmrstofi ; John Godfrey's Eor- 
tunes ; The Story of Kennett ; Joseph and His FjHends. 

His principal poems : Poems of The Orie^it; Poems of 
Homevuard Travel; The Masque of the Gods; Lars; P^Pice 
Deukalion. 

His translation of Faust is regarded as the best in the 
language. 


U 2, 3, 5, 9, 10, II, 22. 

J. G. Holland (1819-1881). Poet and novelist. His 
early works were written under the assumed name Tim- 
othy Titcomb.” These were Letters to the Young; Gold 
Foil; Lesso?is in Life^ and Letters to the Joneses. 

His principal novels; The Bay Path; Miss Gilbert's Ca- 
reer, Arthur Bonnicastle, Sevenoaks, Nicholas Minturn. 

His best known poems : Kathrina, and Bitter Sweet. 

I, 3, 9, 22. 

Donald Grant Mitchell (1822 ). Ik Marvel.” The 

Reveries of a Bachelor, Dream Life, Dr. Johns, Rural Stud- 
ies, Pictures at Edgewood. 


AMERICAN LITERATURE. 


67 


> 


ENGLISH CLASSICS FOR SCHOOL USE. 

1. Rolfe's English Classics, — Shakespeare’s Plays, Gold- 
smith’s Select Poems, Gray’s Select Poems, Browning’s 
Select Poems, Milton’s Minor Poems, Macaulay’s Lays of 
Ancient Rome. Cloth, 56 cents per volume ; paper 40 
cents per volume. Harper & Bros., New York, and 50 
Bromlield Street, Boston. 

2. Rolfe's Student's Edition of Standard Poet 7 'y. — Ten- 
nyson’s Poems ; Scott’s Lady of the Lake ; Marmion ; Lay 
of the Last Minstrel ; Byron’s Childe Harold ; Robert 
Browning’s Poems. Copies for examination, 42 cents each. 

3. Harper's Half-Hour Se 7 'ies. — Principal Essays of 
Macaulay ; Lamb’s Tales from Shakespeare, 2 vols. ; Sir 
Roger de Coverley, with notes ; Scott’s principal poems ; 
Goldsmith’s Plays ; Goldsmith’s Poems ; Goldsmith’s Vicar 
of Wakefield, and others. Price, 25 cents each. 

4. Clark May 7 iard's E 7 iglish Classic Se 7 'ies. — In- 
cludes the works of all the English classic authors, with 
notes. Price, 12 cents each, or $1.20 per dozen. Clark & 
Maynard, 771 Broadway, New York. 

5. Riverside Lite 7 'atu 7 'e Series. — Selections from standard 
American authors. Price, 15 cents each. Houghton, Mif- 
flin & Co., 4 Park Street, Boston. 


68 


ENGLISH CLASSICS. 


6. Ginn’s Classics for Children , — The Swiss Family 
Robinson ; Robinson Crusoe ; Scott’s best known poems and 
novels, etc. Price, 25 to 40 cents. Ginn & Co., 7, 9 & 13 
Tremont- Place, Boston. 

7. Hudson’s School Shakespeare . — Revised and enlarged 
editions of twenty-three plays. Paper, 30 cents each ; cloth, 
45 cents each. Ginn & Co. 


AUTHORS’ BIRTHDAYS. 


69 


AUTHORS’ BIRTHDAYS. 


Bayard Taylor, .... 

January 1 1, 1825. 

Alfred Tennyson, .... 

12, 1810. 

Daniel Webster, .... 

18, 1782. 

Francis Bacon, .... 

22, 1561. 

Lord Byron, ..... 

22, 1788. 

Robert Burns, .... 

'' 25, 1759. 

Charles Dickens, .... 

February 7, 1812. 

Charles Lamb, .... 

“ 18, 1775 - 

James Russell Lowell, 

22, 1819. 

H. W. Longfellow, .... 

27, 1807. 

Edmund Waller, .... 

March 3, 1605. 

T. Buchanan Read, 

12, 1822. 

Washington Irving, 

• April 3, 1783. 

William Wordsworth, 

“ 7 » 1770. 

William Shakespeare, 

“ 23, 1564. 

Alice Cary, ..... 

26, 1820. 

Joseph Addison, .... 

May I, 1672. 

Alexander Pope, .... 

21, 1688. 

Thomas Hood, .... 

'' 23, 1799. 

Ralph Waldo Emerson, . ' . 

“ 25, 1803. 

Thomas Moore, .... 

“ 28, 1779. 


70 


AUTHORS’ BIRTHDAYS. 


Harriet Beecher Stowe, 

June I, 

John G. Saxe, 

2, 

Ben Jonson, .... 

II, 

Charles Kingsley, 

. . 12, 

Nathaniel Hawthorne, 

July 4, 

Thomas Arnold, 

'' 13. 

J. G. Holland, 

'' 24, 


Percy Bysshe Shelley, 

. August 4, 

John Dryden, . 

'' 9, 

Robert Southey, 

12 

• • • X. ^ ^ 

Sir Walter Scott, 

'' 15. 

Oliver Wendell Holmes, . 

29, 

James Thomson, 

. September ii. 

James Fenimore Cooper, 

15. 

Samuel Johnson, 

18, 

Felicia Hemans, 

25, 

George Bancroft, 

October 3, 

Samuel Taylor Coleridge, 

“ 20, 

T. B. Macaulay, 

25, 

Adelaide Proctor, 

'' 30. 

William Cullen Bryant, 

November 2, 

Oliver Goldsmith, 

. . 14? 

William Cowper, 

15. 

Sir Philip Sidney, 

'' 29, 

Thomas Carlyle, 

December 4, 

John Milton, 

'' 9, 

John G. Whittier, 

' '' i 7 » 

Thomas Gray, 

26, 



-! 


1812. 

1816. 

T574- 

1819. 

1804. 

1794. 

1819. 

1792. 

1631. 

1774. 

1771. 

1809. 


1 700. 
1789. 
1709. 
1794. 

1800. 

1772. 

1800. 

1825. 

1794. 
1 728. 

1731- 

1554- 

1795- 

1608. 

1807. 

1716. 


OUTLINES 


OF 

English and /|merican Literature 

« 

PREPARED EOR THE USE OF PUPILS IN HIGH 
AND NORMAL SCHOOLS. 


PART 1— ENGLISH LITERATURE. 

^ PART II —AMERICAN LITERATURE. 


By HORTENSE M. MERRILL, 

Teacher of Literature in the Farmington State Normal School. 


FARMINGTON, MAINE: 

D. H. KNOWLTON & CO., PUBLISHERS. 

i8So. 











